Over the past few weeks, the weather has been keeping us on our toes. From gentle drizzles to torrential downpours, from crisp mornings to sun-drenched afternoons, our team has experienced the full gamut of New England summer weather. The diverse range of conditions has helped illustrate the importance of our high-performance design choices—choices that ensure interior comfort while minimizing energy consumption in this climate.
Passive strategies such as a continuous air barrier (callback to the ZIP sheathing lesson last week) and Energy Recovery Ventilation systems (ERVs) are integral for designing in the unpredictable New England climate. This Wednesday we were visited by Kevin Bergeron, RenewAire representative and UMass Engineering alum, who answered some questions about location and logistics for our ventilation system. RenewAire is providing the ERV unit for the Paper House; it will be placed in the closet loft, where it will remove stale air and provide fresh air to the living spaces. Since high performance houses need to be tightly sealed, it is critical that fresh replacement air is brought into the space to ensure that CO2 levels stay low. ERVs are special in that they not only supply controlled ventilation house wide, but they also filter the air, reduce heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer as well as helping control humidity levels throughout the year.
This system presents unique design challenges when it comes to choosing where the ducts will run and where the supply and exhaust locations will be throughout the home (for example, fresh air in the bedroom is a must, however putting a supply right above the bed may not provide the most comfortable experience).
Presenting Paper House to Steve and John 
This week the team also heard from from Rural Studio’s John Marusich and Steven Long, who came all the way from the gulf coast to tell us about their design build program at Auburn University. Rural Studio is based in Hale County, Alabama, which has different environmental challenges in its swampy high humidity and temperature location. Rural Studios is a well established design-build program celebrating their 30 year anniversary next year. The things they have accomplished and learned from their experience are useful to us, and our team had the opportunity to ask many questions and answer theirs. During the spring semester, we spoke with Rural Studio’s Emily McGlohn during our design process, and now that we have reached the build phase, there is even more to discuss on the practical side of things. Throughout the years they have created houses, community centers, libraries, and more; they are a fantastic inspiration and resource for our young DesignBuild program. John and Steve were excited to learn about our unique modular design process and off site construction, and they are taking some ideas home to their Alabama studio.
View from Barnacle roof 
Setting Rafter Hangers 
Trusses Up 
Teamwork!
Aside from the celebrity visits this week, the build has progressed in spectacular ways. The end of week two saw interior walls up and the beginning of rafter assembly talk, which we continued this week. On Monday, the rafters in the main bedroom were cut and fit, and the lofts and upper walls of the main house were built. Now that we’ve done essentially the same process– cut, glue, place, nail– for the floor, walls, and now roof, the steps are second nature and the team is able to accomplish a lot without the constant guidance of an instructor, thinking ahead to the next step of the process.
Additionally, decisions were made concerning the lofts in the living areas above the closets and whether or not to include the window above the front door. The tricky location of the window and the detachable roof guided the decision to nix the clerestory window, and the need for more storage in a small space pushed the decision to include lofts above the coat closet and hallway.
Working on the roofs and upper walls meant getting up high, with the team getting comfortable up on ladders, staging, and the roofs. On Wednesday the main bedroom (affectionately called the barnacle) gained a sealed roof and is now one step closer to being fully dried in. After the engineered roof trusses were installed, conversations on how to continue with roof sheathing given the added complexity of folding eaves began. Due to the dimensional restrictions involved in transporting the house, the eaves of Paper House will fold up onto the roof—an approach successfully used in last year’s Hygge House. Additionally, transporting the house involves lifting the house onto and off of a flatbed trailer using cables, which would crush the eaves with the pressure of the lift. This presents challenges in sheathing and deciding the roof profile. As roof discussions continued, joist hangers went up in the closets and bedroom rafters, and subflooring was installed into these spaces– crawlspaces, mechanical equipment location, storage spots, maybe even over the closet hangout nooks!
This week also saw preparations for our trip to Green River Music Festival, where the team will present and publicize our work through designing a stage for the performers, and bringing educational materials about high performance design and small scale buildings. The team has constructed a deck and presentation boards, and we will be working on the stage backdrop in the coming week. Be sure to stop by the UMass DesignBuild stage if you are going to GRF next weekend!
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